BYOD Improves Customer Service Workflow

Imagine being able to assist customers from the comfort of your own home, or even better, imagine being able to reach a customer service representative without having to be put on hold. These two concepts have the potential to become a reality with the latest trend in customer service, BYOD or “bring your own device.” BYOD is a trend that supports employees with policies of use their own mobile and laptop devices in the workplace or at home in order to complete company related projects.

Sheelagh Connelly of ThinkCustomerBlog.com says IT managers are beginning to work with the idea; based on a recent survey, Connelly found 80 percent of the managers believe BYOD will give their customer service staff the competitive advantage and 64 percent said they believe adopting BYOD will make their employees more productive.

Many, like Rob Pepper of GetVoip.com, are still dubious about how productive employees will be with the distractions that can occur when an employee is working on their own device. This is a problem that plagues office workers regardless of whether employees are using their own devices or company owned laptops and mobile devices. BYOD could be the one of the customer service solutions the world of communication and customer service have been waiting for.

Keeping it Together

Implementing BYOD in the workspace allows customer service reps to keep all of their data and customer information in one place and allows them to access this information all of the time; whether it’s from their mobile device, laptop, company owned computer or tablet. Having access from all of these devices can increase the reps chances of better serving their customers needs because it optimizes application performance and reduces risk when evolving your infrastructure.

Seamless Workflow

If a customer service rep is off-site, they can still respond to a customer’s query by email and then follow up with a phone call if necessary. Workflow can be seamless on and off-site when reps can take work on their own devices.

Increase in Productivity

BYOD can allow customer service reps to work from home or on the road and that means an increased amount of productivity for employees. It can also simplify IT operations, thereby increasing productivity.

Decrease in Overhead

For companies that can’t afford to have their customer service reps come in to work in an office, or for companies that don’t have the extra overhead available to purchase computers for all reps, BYOD is perfect. Customers will have an increased chance of reaching a rep, if there are more available to be reached, but employers don’t have to request that reps come into an office to support customers; the rep can work from home and be more comfortable. Alexandra Cain, of SMH.com says working from home can increase an employee’s focus and therefore increase their motivation.

Jessica Savage

A bank manager and freelance writer for tech sites, Jessica is a strong supporter of BYOD and cloud computing technology. She shares her insights on the future of tech in finance.